Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoNeal C. Lauron | DISPATCH“People know me,” Ready girls basketball coach Joe Lang said. “I’ve had nieces play for me. I’ve had daughters of classmates play for me. I’ve had daughters of former players play for me. I love this school and I love this game.”

Julie Lang will walk into the kitchen to make a telephone call and see fresh evidence that her husband, Joe, has been there. The unique fingerprints of a basketball coach in deep thought also can be found in the bedroom, living room, basement and garage.

“I have to laugh because we have a notepad next to the telephone and there will be these X’s and O’s scribbled on it,” Julie said. “I’ll open a magazine and there are more X’s and O’s. The bookmarks in books will have X’s and O’s. There will be paper on the dresser with X’s and O’s. There are these diagrams all over the place.”

The paper trail aside, she has it made. Joe doesn’t fish, hunt, bowl, play golf or watch football games for hours on television. When high-school basketball practices begin, though, Julie understands that she will be sharing her husband for 41/2 months with 12 girls wearing Ready uniforms.

“He is so passionate about basketball,” she said. “It’s a huge time commitment with the scouting, practices and games. That’s OK with Joe. Basketball is a big part of him.”

To put Lang’s career into perspective, consider that Ready has not had to hire a girls basketball coach for 32 years, or since Ronald Reagan was in his first term as president. He has won 422 games and four Division III district championships.

The best part of the job for Lang is that the school at the corner of West Mound Street and Salisbury Road is home. Other than his freshman year at Ohio Dominican, he has been inside the building since he was 14 years old in some capacity. He graduated in 1973.

“I’ve been lucky — I went here and I’m still here,” Lang said. “People know me. I’ve had nieces play for me. I’ve had daughters of classmates play for me. I’ve had daughters of former players play for me. I love this school and I love this game.”

Lang never had a master plan to get into coaching after being a reserve on Ready teams that won state basketball championships in 1972 and ’73.

“Then one day, a friend, Brady Linard, asked me to help him coach the eighth grade boys at St. Mary Magdalene,” he said.

The next year, Ready boys basketball coach Bob Jackson hired Lang to coach the junior varsity team. It wasn’t until the end of Lang’s junior year at Ohio Dominican that his path was made crystal clear.

“It was March or April and I hadn’t declared a major,” Lang said. “My adviser asked what I was going to do. I said I had no idea, but that I liked coaching basketball. Then she said, ‘Well, Joe, you are going to become a teacher.’ So I got into education.”

Lang continued to coach the Ready boys junior varsity team through 1980-81, three years after graduating from college.

His big break came the following year when a full-time teaching job and head-coaching job opened at Ready. He did have one reservation.

“The principal, Bill Groce, called and asked if I’d be interested in coaching the girls,” Lang said. “I said, ‘Mr. Groce, I don’t know if I can coach girls.’ He told me, ‘Joe, I want you to coach basketball.’ I will never forget that response. That was a good answer. I learned that the girls are so coachable. Girls are so loyal. Girls will give you every bit of effort they’ve got.”

Lang does not treat his players like porcelain figurines. His deep voice is easily heard above the crowd noise. His body language — hands in pockets, arms folded, hands rubbing the forehead, nervous pacing and looking at the ceiling in disgust — reminds of the character Spencer Tracy portrayed in Father of the Bride.

The players call him Mr. Lang.

“The amazing thing about Mr. Lang is that on the court it’s all basketball, but off the court he’s totally different, like a grandfather,” senior Kim Lloyd said. “You know what he wants and you try to get it done. If you play hard, you will have fun.”

What about the hollering?

“You can’t let that get to you or you’ll play bad,” she said. “You know it’s nothing personal.”

Senior Carly Culbertson knew about Lang’s firm style long before enrolling at Ready. Her parents have known him for years. She attended a basketball camp when she was a fourth-grader at St. Cecilia.

“I thought he was awesome,” Culbertson said. “He had a nickname for every single kid. I couldn’t wait to play here.”